Kaizen #108 - Integrating Third Party Application with Zoho CRM using Java SDK

Kaizen #108 - Integrating Third Party Application with Zoho CRM using Java SDK

Hello, everyone! Welcome to another Kaizen week. In this post, we will discuss how third-party applications can integrate with Zoho CRM using Java SDK 5.0.

Use case 

Zylker is a real-estate app which can integrate with any CRM vendor and uses that data for it's use-cases. Zylker uses Java for the backend server code. Now they want to integrate with Zoho CRM.  How will they do it? Those users could be in different Zoho data centers like Europe (.eu), USA(.com), India(.in), Australia(.com.au) etc. With Zoho CRM's Java SDK 5.0, which consumes Zoho CRM v5 APIs, we can to do authorization and establish this integration. Zylker will write one common code and it should be usable for any CRM orgs across all DCs. 

Java SDK Project dependency

Include the Java dependency using either Maven or Gradle. The maven dependency is as below:

<repositories>
<repository>
<id>zohocrmsdk-5-0</id>
</repository>
</repositories>
<dependencies>
<dependency>
<groupId>com.zoho.crm</groupId>
<artifactId>zohocrmsdk-5-0</artifactId>
<version>4.0.0</version>
</dependency>
</dependencies>


If you are not using Maven or Gradle, please include the Zoho CRM Java SDK JAR and dependant JARs directly into the Java build path.

Setting up the OAuth client 

Create a Server-based Application in the corresponding API console page (https://www.zohoapis.{com/in/eu/com.au}). Enable "Multi-DC" under Settings of the app. Choose "Use the same OAuth credentials for all data centers". With this, you can use the same client ID, client secret, and redirect URI to authorize any Zoho account in any data center. Please refer to our previous posts to know more about domains and environments [Part -1] and [Part - 2].

Integrating the client with your application

In Zylker's web UI, there will be an option to integrate with Zoho CRM. The integration can be initiated from a link or a button containing the authorization URL, along with the corresponding client ID, state, redirect URI, and OAuth scopes. Once the user clicks on this link/button and completes the OAuth authorization process on Zoho, they will be redirected to the specified redirect URI with HTTP parameters location, code, accounts server, and state. These parameters can be utilized within the Java code logic of the redirect URI to begin using the Zoho CRM Java SDK.
The codes used in this post are hosted here for reference. We will focus on two distinct steps as mentioned below, for Zylker integration with Zoho CRM using Java SDK.
     1.  Authorize with Zoho CRM
     2. Fetching data from Zoho CRM

1. Authorize with Zoho CRM 

The aim of this step is to connect with the user's Zoho CRM and store the token details such as refresh token, access token and expiry time in the preferred datastore like MySQL, pgSQL etc. Once the user lands on the redirect URI after the OAuth2.0 authorization, we can extract the email of the logged-in user from zylker.com cookies. We also obtain the grant token and location from the redirect_uri of the authorization request. We pass these three values to the below integrateZohoCRM() function. This function takes care of creating a token for the connected Zoho CRM account and persisting it in the preferred datastore.


public static Boolean integrateZohoCRM(String location, String grant_token, String user_email) 
{
Boolean integrationStatus = Boolean.FALSE;
try {
Environment environment = DataCenter.get(location);
OAuthToken userToken = new OAuthToken.Builder()
                .clientID(OAuthClientDetails.CLIENT_ID)
                .clientSecret(OAuthClientDetails.CLIENT_SECRET)
                .grantToken(grant_token)
                .redirectURL(OAuthClientDetails.REDIRECT_URL)
                                 .userSignature(new UserSignature(user_email)) //email of the user who is trying to integrate with Zoho CRM          
                                 .build();
new Initializer.Builder().environment(environment).token(userToken).initialize(); 
integrationStatus = Boolean.TRUE;
    } catch (SDKException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
    } catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
    }
return integrationStatus;
}

Refer here for the exact code section.

OAuthToken.Builder() creates a new instance of the builder for the OAuthToken class. It allows you to conveniently set up the necessary details for creating an OAuth token for authentication purposes. On passing the client ID, client secret, grant token, redirect URL, and user signature to the OAuthToken.Builder() method, we get the userToken object. One more important thing to note is that we have set the user signature as .userSignature(new UserSignature(user_email)) . This means that we are referring to the token uniquely by the email id of the logged-in Zylker user. The same signature should be used for any further operation to be done in Zoho CRM on behalf of this user.
Now that we have the OAuthToken object, we can send it to the Initializer class (as shown below) to create the refresh/access tokens and persist it.


 new Initializer.Builder().environment(environment).token(userToken).initialize(); 


As we haven't mentioned anything about where to do the persistence, by default the token details are persisted in a file named 'sdk_tokens.txt' using File Persistence. The content of the file would look like the following:


"id","user_name","client_id","client_secret","refresh_token","access_token","grant_token","expiry_time","redirect_url","api_domain" //Do not clear this default format, or else you will need  to generate a grant token again  in order to run the program.
"1","patricia@gmail.com","1000.xxxxx","xxxxxx","1000.xxxxxx.xxxx","1000.xxxxxxxxx.xxxxxxx","1000.xxxxxxxxx.xxxxxxx","1697370902510","https://www.zoho.com","https://www.zohoapis.com"



Apart from File Persistence, tokens can be persisted using Database persistence or Custom persistence.

Note

When Zoho introduces a new DC in future, it will be enough to update the project with the latest version of Zoho CRM Java SDK 5.0 and no further code change will be required. 

2. Fetching data from ZohoCRM

Once the integration is done, we can create OAuthToken with the user's email as UserSignature and call Zoho CRM Java SDK function. This will fetch the data specific to the user. The following fetchCRMData() function is a sample to fetch data from Zoho CRM.


public static void fetchCRMData(String email) throws Exception {
    OAuthToken userToken1 = new OAuthToken.Builder()
        .userSignature(new UserSignature(email))
        .build();
    new Initializer.Builder().token(userToken1).initialize();
    RecordOperations ro = new RecordOperations();
    ParameterMap paramInstance = new ParameterMap();
    List < String > fieldNames = new ArrayList < > (Arrays.asList("Company", "Email"));

    paramInstance.add(RecordOperations.GetRecordsParam.FIELDS, String.join(",", fieldNames));

    @SuppressWarnings("rawtypes")

    APIResponse response = ro.getRecords("Leads", paramInstance, null);

    .

    .

    .

}
 

Refer here for the exact code section.


In this example, we use the SDK's RecordOperations()  for retrieving records from the Leads module. This is done in the following steps:
  •  A new instance of RecordOperations is being created and assigned to the variable ro. This object handles operations related to records in Zoho CRM.  
  • ParameterMap instance is used to specify request parameters for the API calls. We can fetch the Company and the Email fields from the Leads module by passing them as the FIELDS parameter. 
  • We use the getRecords() method to make the API request via SDK, which fetches the respective CRM data.


We hope you found this post useful and interesting.  Stay tuned for more exciting posts.

Previous Kaizen Post : #107 Field Trackers in Zoho CRM

For more topics on Kaizen, please refer to our Kaizen collection here.







    Access your files securely from anywhere







                            Zoho Developer Community




                                                  • Desk Community Learning Series


                                                  • Digest


                                                  • Functions


                                                  • Meetups


                                                  • Kbase


                                                  • Resources


                                                  • Glossary


                                                  • Desk Marketplace


                                                  • MVP Corner


                                                  • Word of the Day


                                                  • Ask the Experts



                                                            • Sticky Posts

                                                            • Kaizen #217 - Actions APIs : Tasks

                                                              Welcome to another week of Kaizen! In last week's post we discussed Email Notifications APIs which act as the link between your Workflow automations and you. We have discussed how Zylker Cloud Services uses Email Notifications API in their custom dashboard.
                                                            • Kaizen #216 - Actions APIs : Email Notifications

                                                              Welcome to another week of Kaizen! For the last three weeks, we have been discussing Zylker's workflows. We successfully updated a dormant workflow, built a new one from the ground up and more. But our work is not finished—these automated processes are
                                                            • Kaizen #152 - Client Script Support for the new Canvas Record Forms

                                                              Hello everyone! Have you ever wanted to trigger actions on click of a canvas button, icon, or text mandatory forms in Create/Edit and Clone Pages? Have you ever wanted to control how elements behave on the new Canvas Record Forms? This can be achieved
                                                            • Kaizen #142: How to Navigate to Another Page in Zoho CRM using Client Script

                                                              Hello everyone! Welcome back to another exciting Kaizen post. In this post, let us see how you can you navigate to different Pages using Client Script. In this Kaizen post, Need to Navigate to different Pages Client Script ZDKs related to navigation A.
                                                            • Kaizen #210 - Answering your Questions | Event Management System using ZDK CLI

                                                              Hello Everyone, Welcome back to yet another post in the Kaizen Series! As you already may know, for the Kaizen #200 milestone, we asked for your feedback and many of you suggested topics for us to discuss. We have been writing on these topics over the


                                                            Manage your brands on social media



                                                                  Zoho TeamInbox Resources



                                                                      Zoho CRM Plus Resources

                                                                        Zoho Books Resources


                                                                          Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                                                                            Zoho Projects Resources


                                                                              Zoho Sprints Resources


                                                                                Qntrl Resources


                                                                                  Zoho Creator Resources



                                                                                      Zoho CRM Resources

                                                                                      • CRM Community Learning Series

                                                                                        CRM Community Learning Series


                                                                                      • Kaizen

                                                                                        Kaizen

                                                                                      • Functions

                                                                                        Functions

                                                                                      • Meetups

                                                                                        Meetups

                                                                                      • Kbase

                                                                                        Kbase

                                                                                      • Resources

                                                                                        Resources

                                                                                      • Digest

                                                                                        Digest

                                                                                      • CRM Marketplace

                                                                                        CRM Marketplace

                                                                                      • MVP Corner

                                                                                        MVP Corner







                                                                                          Design. Discuss. Deliver.

                                                                                          Create visually engaging stories with Zoho Show.

                                                                                          Get Started Now


                                                                                            Zoho Show Resources

                                                                                              Zoho Writer

                                                                                              Get Started. Write Away!

                                                                                              Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                                                                                                Zoho CRM コンテンツ



                                                                                                  Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


                                                                                                      ご検討中の方




                                                                                                              • Recent Topics

                                                                                                              • Tip #53- Remote Billing: Your End-to-End Billing Solution in Zoho Assist- 'Insider Insights'

                                                                                                                Manual invoicing, after every remote support session, can be time-consuming and often error-prone. As an MSP, IT admin, or even a freelance support technician, it may become overwhelming to keep track of session time, service rates, and client invoices.
                                                                                                              • Record history and ticket interaction tab in contacts and accounts

                                                                                                                Hello everyone! We have improved the History tab to help users trace updates in the interaction activity logs of the Contacts and Accounts detail pages in the Customer Module. This enhancement make it easier to get clear details about who made each update,
                                                                                                              • issue with deluge script

                                                                                                                i used chat gpt to build this script and I am getting 2 errors which I cannot figure out how to fix: void monthly_sales_order_generation() { try { // ---------------- CONFIG ------------------- analytics_url_1 = "https://analytics.zoho.com/api/<workspaceID>/report/<reportID1>/data";
                                                                                                              • Ticket Status email

                                                                                                                Good day, This was discussed in the past, but it would be helpful if we could have the system assign a custom response to a status. We have various statuses for tickets, e.g. "closed due to no response", or "Pending Status", it would be helpful for the
                                                                                                              • Is there an API to "File a Ticket" in Desk

                                                                                                                Hi, Is there an API to "File a Ticket" in Desk to zoho projects?
                                                                                                              • Zoho Desk View Open Tickets and Open Shared Tickets

                                                                                                                Hi, I would like to create a custom view so that an agent can view all the open tickets he has access to, including the shared tickets created by a different department. Currently my team has to swich between two views (Open Tickets and Shared Open Tickets).
                                                                                                              • Keyboard UX for Assemblies

                                                                                                                The new Assembly module has a counter-intuitive behavior that ought to be corrected. When an Assembly is ready to be entered, there are two options given, the blue-highlighted "Assemble" and the gray "Save as Draft". This correctly implies that the normal
                                                                                                              • Mapping a new Ticket in Zoho Desk to an Account or Deal in Zoho CRM manually

                                                                                                                Is there any way for me to map an existing ticket in Zoho desk to an account or Deal within Zoho CRM? Sometimes people use different email to put in a ticket than the one that we have in the CRM, but it's still the same person. We would like to be able
                                                                                                              • Cliq iOS can't see shared screen

                                                                                                                Hello, I had this morning a video call with a colleague. She is using Cliq Desktop MacOS and wanted to share her screen with me. I'm on iPad. I noticed, while she shared her screen, I could only see her video, but not the shared screen... Does Cliq iOS is able to display shared screen, or is it somewhere else to be found ? Regards
                                                                                                              • Zoho Desk API - Influence which layout is used

                                                                                                                Hello, how can the ticket layout be changed using the API? I would like to choose the layout directly when creating the ticket. If this is not possible, my question would be how can I change it afterwards? Best regards, Sven
                                                                                                              • How to Move Behavior, Acquisition, Polls & Forms Data from Zoho PageSense to Zoho Analytics?

                                                                                                                Hi Zoho Community, I'm looking for a way to transfer data from Zoho PageSense to Zoho Analytics, specifically: Behavioral data (clicks, scrolls, heatmaps, etc.) Acquisition data (traffic sources, campaigns, etc.) Polls and forms data As far as I can tell:
                                                                                                              • Why can't I see images uploaded by other users in the Library for Campaigns

                                                                                                                We are several users of zoho Campaign. I have uploaded visuals of our company, but my team members can't see them.
                                                                                                              • zoho sheet stuck

                                                                                                                I Need help. ZOHO sheets stuck on the loading screen. I've already deleted the system cache and cookies of my browser (google chrome) but it's still not opening. 
                                                                                                              • Turn off Knowlege Base Follow options and Follower lists

                                                                                                                Is there a way to hide or turn off the option in the Knowledge Base for users to follow specific departments/categories/sections/articles? If not, is there a way to turn off the public list of followers for each of those things? Otherwise, customer names
                                                                                                              • Future Orders - Due Date

                                                                                                                Hi In my role, I can receive tickets where the work required is requested months in advance. Using a Future Orders option, which I believe was setup under the On Hold status type, hides the Due Date, in all views/ticket etc. Whilst I understand the reasoning
                                                                                                              • Tip of the Week #78 – Cut response time with multichannel shared inboxes

                                                                                                                If you’ve ever felt your team juggling between multiple email accounts, social pages, and chat apps just to reply to customers, you’re not alone. Managing conversations in multiple channels can quickly turn messy. Important messages across inboxes, replies
                                                                                                              • Need a way to run a client script longet than 10 seconds

                                                                                                                By The Grace of G-D. Hi, Currently, Client Scripts are Timing out at 10 seconds. We have complex logics that needs more time. Can you add a feature request to increase the timeout?
                                                                                                              • FSM - Associating and selecting Contacts based on Service Addresses

                                                                                                                Hi FSM team, I've come across an FSM limitation I wanted to share for improvement. I'm currently configuring FSM for a client who provides heating system install and maintenance services. The are often sub contracted by building management companies to
                                                                                                              • Exciting Updates to the Kiosk Studio Feature in Zoho CRM!

                                                                                                                Hello Everyone, We are here again with a series of new enhancements to Kiosk Studio, designed to elevate your experience and bring even greater efficiency to your business processes. These updates build upon our ongoing commitment to making Kiosk a powerful
                                                                                                              • FSM Improvement Idea - Show an Import button when there is no data

                                                                                                                I am setting up FSM for a client and I noticed that there is no option to import data, see screenshot below. Even when you click Create Contact there is only an option to Import from Zoho Invoice. It is only after you add at lease 1 record that the Import
                                                                                                              • Duplicate customers being created in Desk

                                                                                                                Hi I've trying to work out why I've getting duplicated customers being created in my desk. I have an external booking system that generates an email when I get a customer booking a job. A booking email gets sent to Desk where I manage the booking and
                                                                                                              • Unable to Send Different Email Templates for Different Documents in Zoho Sign

                                                                                                                Hello Zoho Community, I am facing a limitation with Zoho Sign regarding email notifications sent to customers when a document is sent for signing. Currently, whenever I send any template/document for signing, the email notification that goes to the customer
                                                                                                              • Timeline Tracking Support for records updates via module import and bulk write api

                                                                                                                Note: This update is currently available in Early Access and will soon be rolled out across all data centers (DCs) and for all editions of Zoho CRM. The update will be available to all users within your organization, regardless of their profiles or roles.
                                                                                                              • How to change position button transtition of Blueprint?

                                                                                                                Hi Everyone, Look at my screenshoot, it is possible move the reject button to the right? I couldn't find that setting in the blueprint. Thank you.
                                                                                                              • UI Improvement - Ability to Collapse Flow

                                                                                                                The UI for Flow is generally pretty good. However, when multiple decision trees are used, the layout can get pretty convoluted and hard-to-follow (see one of my Flows below): In these cases, even the auto-arrange fails to make this something that a normal
                                                                                                              • Tasks Statuses

                                                                                                                Hi, The task status "Completed" is a final status which closes the task. We need to have a status "Cancelled". However, when the status is set to "Cancelled", the task prompt still has a blue button to Close Task. When the customer clicks that and closes
                                                                                                              • Add Lookup Field in Tasks Module

                                                                                                                Hello, I have a need to add a Lookup field in addition to the ones that are already there in the Tasks module. I've seen this thread and so understand that the reason lookup fields may not be part of it is that there are already links to the tables (
                                                                                                              • Create New Tasks Layout in CRM

                                                                                                                I am able to do this in Leads, Contacts, Meetings, Calls - every other module, but cannot create a new layout in tasks. I have the appropriate access but it's simply not appearing as an option. Only "Standard" option shows. Please help!
                                                                                                              • Whatsapp Connection Status still "Pending" after migration

                                                                                                                Hello, I migrated my WhatsApp API to Zoho from another provider a day ago. So far the connection status is still “Pending”. There is a problem? How long does it usually take?
                                                                                                              • Meet Canvas' Grid component: Your easiest way to build responsive record templates

                                                                                                                Visual design can be exciting—until you're knee-deep in the details. Whether it's aligning text boxes to prevent overlaps, fixing negative space, or simply making sure the right data stands out, just ironing out inconsistencies takes a lot of moving parts.
                                                                                                              • Multi file upload

                                                                                                                Hi, I just wonder if one could upload multiple files in one shot, say between one and three files, without adding multiple File Upload fields? Thanks, Alalbany
                                                                                                              • Using IMAP configuration for shared email inboxes

                                                                                                                Our customer service team utilizes shared email boxes to allow multiple people to view and handle incoming customer requests. For example, the customer sends an email to info@xxxx.com and multiple people can view it and handle the request. How can I configure
                                                                                                              • Auto-Invite Users to Portals in Zoho CRM based on Conditions

                                                                                                                Hello Everyone, You can now automate portal invitations in Zoho CRM with the new Auto-Invite users feature in Portal management. No more manually enabling portal access one by one. With this enhancement, you can automatically send invites for users to
                                                                                                              • Zoho CRM for Everyone's NextGen UI Gets an Upgrade

                                                                                                                Hello Everyone We've made improvements to Zoho CRM for Everyone's Nextgen UI. These changes are the result of valuable feedback from you where we’ve focused on improving usability, providing wider screen space, and making navigation smoother so everything
                                                                                                              • Auto-sync field of lookup value

                                                                                                                This feature has been requested many times in the discussion Field of Lookup Announcement and this post aims to track it separately. At the moment the value of a 'field of lookup' is a snapshot but once the parent lookup field is updated the values diverge.
                                                                                                              • Zoho Recruit Subscription

                                                                                                                Hello Zoho Recruit Team, Good day! I would like to inquire about your recruitment subscription plans and would also like to verify the current subscription our company is enrolled in under Zoho Recruit. Thank you, and I look forward to your response.
                                                                                                              • Keyboard shortcut M key

                                                                                                                I'm trying to customize my keyboard shortcuts and assign the "m" key. But it says the key is already assigned. I've looked through all my shortcuts and can't see any assigned "m". When I select an email and press the M key, nothing happens. What is the
                                                                                                              • Is it possible to create a meeting in Zoho Crm which automatically creates a Google Meet link?

                                                                                                                We are using Google's own "Zoho CRM for Google" integration and also Zoho's "Google Apps Sync" tools, but none of them provide us with the ability to create a meeting in Zoho CRM that then adds a Google Meet link into the meeting. Is this something that
                                                                                                              • Ensure Consistent Service Delivery with Comprehensive Job Sheets

                                                                                                                We are elated to announce that one of the most requested features is now live: Job Sheets. They are customizable, reusable forms that serve as a checklist for the services that technicians need to carry out and as a tool for data collection. While on
                                                                                                              • Automatic Portal invite

                                                                                                                We have numerous customers we move through a blueprint in deals, when they get to a certain point we need to give them portal access, how can this be done through deluge or a workflow? Latest Update (December 2025): The option to automate portal invitations
                                                                                                              • Next Page